What's gone wrong with Yaya Toure?

Yaya celebrated many times last campaign

Yaya Toure was one of the stars of the 2013/2014 Premier league season but he has really struggled to reach those high's so far this time around. Alex Johnson looks into why this might be.

Yaya Toure has made a slow start to this season and was subjected to a lot of criticism about his early performances.

He finally scored his first league goal of the season in Manchester City's 2-0 win over Aston Villa last time out, after having fans on his back over his work-rate during the opening weeks of the campaign.

Toure's early form has been in stark contrast to the way he performed last season. However, the player has gone through a turbulent summer which could go some way to explaining why he is only just getting going.

Unfortunately, what will have fuelled many critics is the infamous speculation that Toure was angry with City over how they treated his birthday and wanted to leave the club. The claims made by Toure's agent that City "disrespected" him was met with derision by the media, pundits and fans alike.

However, the truth is that Toure has endured a tough period and had to deal with a lot of pain in his personal life after losing his 28-year-old brother Ibrahim to cancer in June. Footballers are human beings and such personal issues are going to have an effect on their performance, as it would affect a person's work in any walk of life.

City made sure they gave Toure all the support he needed through this difficult situation, but unfortunately fans are not always so understanding and so Toure was heavily criticised at times when his performances were deemed sub-par.

It takes time for anyone to come to terms with the death of a sibling and thus Toure's slow start to the season can be understood. But there is no doubting he is a world class midfielder who will return to his best for City soon.

It is a shame that he is facing such flak at this difficult time, the state of affairs does reflect the short-term blinkered mentality that surrounds the football world. For all the times that Toure has rescued City from difficult situations, surely the fans can allow him a slow start.

While his brother received treatment at The Christie in Manchester, he was playing for City and helping them win the Premier League title. He spoke in a France Football column during the summer that he was annoyed at having to choose football over his little brother, describing how City made him celebrate the title in Abu Dhabi rather than giving him time off to see Ibrahim - who Yaya described as "my confidant, my best friend" in the article - before going to the World Cup.

Last season Toure scored 20 Premier League goals in 35 appearances, which was only beaten by Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Toure got more goals from midfield than strikers such as Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney and Olivier Giroud managed in the campaign. It was a huge contribution to City's Premier League-winning campaign and it could be claimed the Citizens would not have won the title if it hadn't been for Toure's vital goals. And not only did he score 20, but he claimed an assist in another nine.

Toure played above and beyond for City and that has meant a lot more is expected of him this campaign. In his first three seasons with City he scored eight, six and six goals respectively, which shows he has never been a consistent 20-goals-a-season-from-midfield type of player. It is his size and power that he is renowned for. When Toure charges forward from midfield he can ghost past opposition players and, at his best, he can strike fear into the heart of Premier League defenders.

And that is showing signs of coming back into his game. The way he broke through Villa's well-organised defence and scored from the edge of the box was like the Toure of last season. He may only just be getting going but, as the old adage goes, form is temporary and class is permanent. And Yaya Toure is pure class. He is going to be a big performer for City this season.